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Andrés Duany of architecture firm Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. is considered an expert in New Urbanism.

Paul Brinkmann

Two blocks off Calle Ocho in Miami is an architect’s office that looks like a cross between an old factory building and an ancient temple.

It is from this office that two renowned architects, Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, launch plans for buildings and cities worldwide.

The latest task for Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. (DPZ) is no less than planning the rebirth of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a city long plagued by poverty and colonialism that was virtually destroyed in the January 2010 earthquake.

DPZ’s partner in the planning process is no less than the U.K.’s Prince of Wales and his Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment.

In an interview with the Business Journal, Duany said the destruction of Port-au-Prince is an opportunity.

“This is a chance to get it right,” he said. “In America, when we make new plans for cities, we are hampered by the 20th century infrastructure. In Haiti, there is none of that.”

Duany presented the emerging plan’s first draft in a conference in Haiti last week. Not surprisingly, signs of his unique brand of New Urbanism are present in the draft, as one option includes self-contained “villages” on every large downtown city block. Duany’s version of New Urbanism was first demonstrated to the world in the northern Florida resort town of Seaside. It is a well-landscaped, walkable community that encompasses places to live, work, shop and dine.

The Port-au-Prince rebuilding plan includes three options: $154 million for a complete, sudden rebirth of the city’s urban core; $232 million for a plan that focuses first on rebuilding governmental buildings; and $380 million for the urban village concept. All options would take 20 or 30 years. According to Duany, the third option – the most expensive – has the lowest front-end cost because one block could be tackled for about $3.5 million.

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